What's Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction has nothing to do with owning a trench coat or getting drunk at a Poison concert.

Simply, flash fiction is very short fiction. How short? It depends on who you ask. It is generally accepted that flash can vary from 55 to 1,500 words. As a writer and self-editor, it is your goal to ensure no words are just tacked on for decoration. You quickly learn to CTRL+F and delete very, mostly, and other extraneous words. For me, there is a very productive inner struggle between the writer who loves a pretty phrase and the editor who knows that it must be sacrificed for more important details.

Reading flash fiction by authors using the same theme or prompt is pure fun. It's so cool to see how individuals interpret a photo, a vague idea, or even a line of dialog. You would think you would see a lot of similarity, but you won't. That's the magic of imagination and words at work.